Snack Shopping
"IAN, NO! WE ARE NOT FEEDING THEM CELERY FOR A SLEEPOVER!"
Jack had her arms folded and was slightly flushed. Ian gave her a harmless-looking smile. "We can compromise with ants on a log?"
Jack was about ready to strangle him. Who in the fuck thought celery was a good idea for a sleepover?! She was starting to believe Alex when he claimed that Ian was weird.
At first, she thought it was just Alex being a kid. A few things had come up but Jack had reasoned that men were allowed their quirks. This was over the lines, though. "NO!"
Ian tried a different tack. He gave her the most hurt look she had ever seen. "What's wrong with ants on a log?"
Jack glared at him. She was immune to the big brown eyes in this family. Mostly because Alex used the same tactics. "That is a snack for grandmas. Sleepovers are supposed to have fun snacks. And enough sugar to give everyone stomachaches!"
Ian gave her an incredibly pouty look. Jack continued standing with her arms folded. "Fiiine. Can I at least come with you while you shop? I'm curious as to what you think proper sleepover snacks are."
Ian sounded more amused than put out. Jack figured that meant she probably wasn't fired. Sometimes she forgot that she was technically Ian's employee. Then again, most Brits were a lot more casual bosses than the ones in the US.
Ian strode out at her side as they both went for the car. He ran his hands covetously over the car's body. Jack rolled her eyes. That car was Ian's baby. Jack was just glad he had a second, less sentimental one for her to drive.
The car ride to the store was fairly short. Ian refrained from speeding too hard with her in the car. Jack honestly wondered if he didn't illegally street race sometimes. They walked into the grocery and Jack grabbed a cart. Ian looked at her. "How many snacks and drinks are you buying?"
Jack just beamed at him. Ian blanched slightly. She loved having that reaction from Ian. It was nice to know that she could still terrorize men. "Don't worry, you'll see."
Jack headed straight for the chips. This was going to be fun. She grabbed three different kinds of chips. There were also Cheetos on sale. Jack tossed those into the cart. Ian looked like he was trying very hard not to wince.
"You do know we're only having Alex and Tom for this sleepover, right?"
Jack politely ignored him as she steered them toward the soda aisle. She knew for a fact that Alex loved Coca-Cola. Maybe one or two other sodas for Tom? Jack tossed in a grape soda and some sort of weird-looking orange one she was pretty sure she'd seen Ian drinking sometimes.
"I think that's plenty of snacks?"
Jack rolled her eyes. Just for that, she was going to get cookies and candy. Ian was looking slightly wide-eyed. "No. We haven't even gotten to the sweets yet."
Ian looked befuddled as she dragged him to the candy and cookies. Maybe the poor dear hadn't ever been to a sleepover. That or he was just really old and forgot what being a kid was like. "The sweets?! We could feed the kids for a week off just that."
Jack grinned at Ian. Ian huffed. "Well, you could."
Jack continued adding items to the cart. Ian let out a slight whine as she went towards the cookies. "Can we at least buy proper bakery cookies?"
Jack paused in her shopping. Well, Ian had been good for most of the trip. Never mind that she was hustling him along and steamrolling him for the whole shopping trip. "Sure. I'm glad you've seen reason."
Ian gave her the grumpiest look she'd ever seen. Jack smiled brightly. He muttered something under his breath before slinking off to the bakery to grab cookies. She was sure that he would be back with a suitably prissy selection for himself and everyone else. Mostly him, because she'd never met a kid who turned down cake or cookies.
Jack was in the checkout line by the time Ian returned with a very fancy-looking box. It was wrapped in ribbon. He wordlessly added it to the cart, setting it down gingerly, as though it might explode. The cashier rang them up. Ian paid without batting an eye.
Jack hoisted the bags. Ian rushed over to help her. "I thought you didn't want the snacks."
Ian rolled his eyes at her. This was why Jack liked him. "That's not an excuse to be rude and make you carry it all."
Ian grabbed like eight fucking grocery bags. Jack wasn't sure how he did it. He was pretty strong, though. The man was next to her as they went out to the car. The locks popped open and the trunk raised automatically. Ian plonked the bags into the trunk. Jack followed suit. He opened the door for her as she walked towards the passenger side of the car. "If you keep that up, I'm going to be suspicious."
Jack hadn't meant for that to sound so flirtatious. Ian winked at her. "Be suspicious, then."
Ian shut the door as Jack flushed. Goddamn him and his stupid attractive face. He got in the car next to her. "Buckle up. Unless you need my help."
His eyes were sparkling with mirth. Jack wanted to murder him. She glared as she buckled her seat belt. Ian snapped his into place. He leaned back to check the rearview mirror. Jack could smell his cologne as he pulled out of the parking stop.
Ian flashed her a grin. "Ready?"
Jack's reply was cut off by Ian whipping the car around and gunning it. She would think that he was getting revenge for the snacks but Ian did that every single time they drove together. "Ian, why do you do that?"
Ian gave her his most innocent look. "I have a need. A need for speed."
Jack was tempted to slam her head into the dash. Ian was banned from picking movies. Banned.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 299th work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection. We have an index of all the prompts used in this event so far and going forwards - join the discord to get access to the online index (and to take part in our events, chat about everything and anything, and meet a load of awesome people!